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“private (dis)play” at COCA
Lisa Ito, Washington University
private(dis)play, an unusual exhibit focused not on finished art, but sketchbooks of contemporary American artists, opened February 6th, 2009 at COCA, the Center of Creative Arts in St. Louis. Founded in 1896, COCA is an institution dedicated to the education and inspiration of the arts, offering a wide range of programs in a variety of disciplines for students aged six months to adulthood. Believing in teaching through example, COCA not only provides classes and educational camp programs, but it also hosts performances in its 400 seat theater and exhibitions in its galleries.
private(dis)play is an example of one such educational exhibit that teaches specifically about the process of creating art. As a collection of sketchbooks and journals, the exhibit acts as a portal into the private minds of artists, displaying their ideas, thought processes, and methods for creating the finished pieces that they are now renowned for. The artists of the show vary in aspects such as their interests, subject matter, and media, so it is unsurprising that their sketchbooks also exemplify great differences. Some artists are very gestural in their sketches, whereas others resolve their drafts to the point of a finished pencil rendering. Of the more unique works were one set of collages and a digital animatic, which served as a time-based “sketchbook” for developing a finished animated piece. Many sketchbook pages consisted of visual imagery, while others included artist’s writing.
Artists displayed in the show included Bo Bartlett, Roland Becerra, Vincent Desiderio, Ella Gant, Julie Heffernan, Catherine Howe, John Jacobsmeyer, Kurt Kauper, Tom Knechtle, Katharine Kuharic, and Jamie Adams, a current professor at Washington University’s Sam Fox School of Design. Adams and Kuharic co-curated private(dis)play, and Adams spoke briefly at the gallery opening, introducing the show and expressing his hopes of revealing the unseen world of what artists go through before producing finished works.
Contemporary American painter, John Jacobsmeyer was also present at the exhibit opening and was invited to speak about his submission which featured several highly rendered sketches for a concept based on a poem titled “Sheep Boy.” Jacobsmeyer combined his interest in the poem with his interest in American Sign Language by drawing stills of a model performing “Sheep Boy” in ASL.
Attending private(dis)play was a new experience, as it was the first exhibition opening I had ever been to. The atmosphere was somewhat sophisticated, the attendees dressed in formal clothing, but it was also very friendly and energized. A large variety of people attended, young and old, practicing artists, art professors and art students, but no matter what the age or status, everyone was clearly focused on the exhibition at hand, participating in lively conversation.
The exhibit itself was very inspiring, showing another side to artists, one that normally is not presented. To see the raw workings of these nationally acclaimed painters and animators showed that everyone must start somewhere, and maybe even the greatest artist has crude and undecipherable sketches. It was extremely interesting to see how each artist thought differently, and how emotions drove all of them.
private(dis)play is open until March 22, 2009, at the very accessible St. Louis COCA, and as a student of the arts, I highly recommend the show not only as a sight to see, but as a motivation to create art, even if it is just a handful of sketches.